The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1887-01-11
ORANGE HARVEST.
Gathering the Golden Fruit
in Florida.
Butting, Separating, Sorting, Wrapping and
Packing the Oranges.

afternoon, which for four months, has
irrigated the grove, grow less frequent,
und with the soft, dry days of our au-
we begin harvest; the early OBJ
long or Thornton's bell, the egg, and the
round Sang par seeding begin to ripen,
and arc ready for gathering.
A grove is not in bearing condition
until its trees average five hundred apples,
so the labor of merely picking a crop of
oranges can be understood. Nor is the
gatherer permitted to pluck the fruit. 1t
swing it's tempting yellow among the
dark green leaves and long, stccly thoins
high among the tops and low among the
bending boughs. Tall stcp-laddcrs and
liglt-weights arc in demand, for care
must be taken not to break the fruitful
branches already symptomatic of another
year.
The fruit must be ''stcm- cut" An
adroit expert learns to clip the fruit,
holding it between the third and fourth
fingers and the shoulder of the thumb,
transferring it lightly to the pouch sus-
pended at his neck. The musk of the
wind-shaken, crushed, thorn pierced, and
fallen fruit, the pungcnt, aromatic odors
of the leaves and oil-glands load the mir
with fragrance as the cxhilirating task
proceeds.
A bright. dry day must be chosen, as
moisture on the rind tends to decay, and
there must be caution in handling, rs one
bruised orange may infect an entire box
or crate.
A brisk hand stem-cutting in o full
crop can average his three hundred by
the hour, or three thousand apples per
day, but this is not frequent, on account
of the cautious handling. The picker
transfers his sack or basket carefully to
the drying-house, where the fruit is spread
out to dry. The sweating process oc-
cupies three o: more days. A good dry
ing-house is arranged with Slated shelves,
that the air may penetrate to the inter-
stices of the strips. A light fire is of
advantage, as it promotes the drying, by
which the rind becomes firmer, taking a
crisp, horny texture, protecting the pulp
from bruising.
The next step is selecting, removing
oil bruised, thorn-pricked, or injured
fruit into separate lots. This, which
should prccede arranging on drying.
floor or shelves, to avoid contact, is fol-
lowed by separating the rusty fruit from
the bright yellow. If this is carefully
done, a selection may be made of rusty
fruit in which the bronze contrasts pref
tily with the gold on the orange, like the
bloom on the peach. AS the rust in no
way impairs flavor or juiciness, a we'll
selected box of rust fruit compares with
the ''brights."
Sorting is putting oranges of the same
diameter in separate heaps. The next
step is wrapping. A thin tissue paper is
used, cut into squares of twelve or four
teen inches, the Florida sweet Seeding
aver ging ten inches in circumference;
oblong, egg. mandarin being smaller.
Setting the fruit on the sheet spread on
the open palm, closing the hand unites
the corners for a twist of the right hand.
and it is wrapped. The fruit is packed
in thin elastic boxes, 12x12x27 outside
measurement-thc wrapped orange is
packed stem down-and, of IN average
three-inch diameter, will hold four rows
of nine to the row, or 158. The usual
complement Of the south Florida fruit,
however, is 1913, packed apple above ap-
pie, with paper division to each layer.
The packing box is divided in the
middle, the ends and partition being firm
half-inch wood and the sides flexible.
BY arranging the fruit differently, rs is
required in sizes exceeding or less han
average diameter, space is economical
by alternating the rows to fill the diverse
and re-entcring curves. A size running
176 can be set alternate thrces and fours.
and be SO packed.
The process is delicate. The packing
must be close, fitting with even pressure
without brui>ing, to bear the jarring of
careless stevedores and 'longshoremen,
who annually exasperate the croppcr. In
fitting the box, a layer of paper is put at
the bottom and one Tapped above and
below, SO that the fold, after the success
sive layers are closely fitted, may lap
over and GOV the top. The upper row
should rise not to exceed q quarter of an
inch above the box cdging, that, on nail
ing down the elastic top, the spring of